felt a hand move up his arm almost stroking him. He looked over at who was touching him and just about tossed the woman’s hand off of his arm which would have caused a scene. The hand belonged to none other than Chelsea who was doing her best to insinuate to Wynn that he and Chelsea were together.
As politely as he could, Ben excused himself from the conversation and walked to the bar for a glass of soda. She followed him. He could smell her liberally applied perfume that made her smell like a gardenia garden run amok. She put her hand on his arm, and he shrugged it away before he turned to glare at her. Right now he was too tired, too much in pain, and too revved up with anger directed toward her to stomach even a minute in her presence.
"What are you doing here, Chelsea?"
"I’ve come to support you, Ben. What do you think I’m doing here?" Ben was not fooled for one minute by her sugary sweet tone or her innocent expression. "I see your girlfriend is noticeably absent tonight. Did you break up, Ben? Not that I’m surprised. She got what she wanted. She may have only wanted a job. But I want you, Ben." She said the last sentence seductively and put her hand on his chest.
Ben grabbed her wrist and pushed her hand down. He did not let go. Right now, all he saw was red. Putting his glass of soda on the bar, he walked with Chelsea by his side out into the hotel lobby. When they were by the front desk, Ben asked the front desk clerk if there was a private meeting room available for just a few minutes. They were shown to a small conference room that looked like it was used by hotel staff for booking high profile events, and Ben closed the door when the clerk left. Chelsea, who stood beside him quietly up until this point, seemed to take encouragement by them being alone because she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.
Ben pulled her arms from him and pushed her away.
"Chelsea, I’m only going to say this one more time. If you do not pay attention, I will get the law involved. There is nothing between us. There will never be anything between us ever again."
"Come on, Ben, Honey. You’re not still mad about Dr. Conner are you? I was doing you a favor, Darling."
"Watch how you talk about her, Chelsea. Anne is going to be my wife."
Chelsea laughed and swatted his arm playfully. "Not that again, Ben? How gullible do you think that I am?"
"It’s no joke, Chelsea. I’m marrying Anne. From now on, if there is any more of your stalking, any more of your snide comments or slanderous statements, you will be hearing from my attorney. I don’t care about our parents’ friendship. Stay away from me. Stay away from Anne. Do not push me on this. Goodbye." He left her standing there with a shocked expression on her face. The door closed behind him, and he heard her yell, damning him and Anne before he heard a crash as something broke. The clerk who showed them to the door looked up from her post with a worried expression on hearing the crash.
"Send the bill for any damages to me," Ben told her before he went back into the party to make his excuses to the host for an early departure.
Now, after another sleepless night, Ben thought about Anne. Earlier today he wanted to see if she was home, so he called her that morning and heard her voice instructing him to leave a message. He did not leave one but drove over to her house and knocked on the door. There was no answer and her car was gone. Looking at his watch he decided that he would leave and come back after his lunch with his parents, and he would sit on her door steps for the rest of the day, if he had to, until she came home. The waiting to talk to her was nearly killing him.
It was a twenty minute drive to his parents’ house, and he listened to the soulful sound of Brandi Carlile as he drove over the bridge. He steered his car through his parents' open front gate when he arrived at their home, and headed up the long driveway not noticing the flowering plants that bordered the drive nor the